Long live the king
by vic elor
Summary: A human mercenary has conquered Equestria. With no way home, he must learn to live in his strange new world. With the help of his new "faithful" student Twilight Sparkle and her friends magic may just be in the air. (Warning: Story may be a bit dark and dirty and may contain some humanized ponies.)
1. In the throne room

Zale sat upon his thrown, one he had proudly constructed himself to let any pony who saw it know that he was not a man to trifled with. He was the King of Equestria now and anyone who saw him in his thrown room would think more then twice about questioning his claim to the land.

The thrown itself was actually not all that intimidating, a simple wooden chair with red velvet cushions tailored in a classical style. No, the fear that the thrown evoked in the hearts of his subjects came from the four alicorn horns secured into the head of the chair. Though it wasn't obvious from looking at it, the popular rumor (which was correct) stated the cushions were filled with alicorn feathers.

"It's simply not fair!" Twilight Sparkle pouted, stamping her hoof upon the palace floor.

"What are you complaining about now Princess Sparkle?" Zale asked, not overly concerned with her answer.

"I became your loyal student, I've helped you maintain your rule in Equestria, I've convinced most of my friends to become your minions, and I've even studied every book I could find on human customs and beliefs…" Twilight began to rant.

"Let's stop right there you uppity little filly! You only became my student because I defeated your former teacher so completely. So you did that for your own little reasons. As for helping me maintain my rule over this crummy little world, you have been helpful but your skills could easily have been replaced, even if it would take several ponies to replace you. As for your friends, you convinced them because it was the smart thing to do. They wouldn't be around now to be your friends had they not been willing to serve me. And besides all that, I've already rewarded you by officially appointing you as a princess, something your older ruler had no intention of doing. If anything, you still owe me a great deal."

"Why won't you sleep with me?" Twilight pleaded, "I know if you let me try I can please you. I've read over a dozen books on the topic of human sexuality!"

"Are we back on this again?" Zale asked rhetorically, "Look, I already gave you a chance to prove yourself weeks ago, remember? You couldn't even meet my first request; all you had to do was flirt a little and you failed completely."

"But I've been practicing with my mirror since then and I think I've got the hang of it now. I just need a second chance."

"Why do you even want this so much?"

"You're our king now and I want to be the best subject and apprentice I can be and as a human I know you have stronger urges then us ponies and…"

"Quit lying you little fool, do you think I'm stupid?" Zale asked, catching Twilight off guard.

"What do you mean my liege?" Twilight asked meekly, cowering a little due to Zale's angry tone.

"I just want to be the best subject and apprentice I can be? Perhaps that's true but that's not why you keep trying to plead your way into bed."

"It's not?" Twilight asked softly.

"No, not in the least. I read Celestia's notes on you, Twilight Sparkle. I know all about you. You didn't even have any friends until Celestia forced you to get some and even then you seemed to get them despite your unfathomably underdeveloped social skills. No, there are two reasons why you want this so much. First, you know you'd be a complete failure at trying to find a special somepony of your own and that's something Miss Perfect just can't handle but if you try to seduce me all of your mistakes and fumbles and failures can be written off as nothing more then the necessary difficulties of learning the ways of a new culture."

"What's the other reason?" Twilight asked, her cheeks turning a soft red as she first silently rejected and then began to wonder if Zale's theory had any truth to it.

"You're attracted to power."

"I am not, not really at least." Twilight exclaimed, knowing that Zale's second point did hold some truth to it.

"Don't lie! You love power, it drives you wild but it also terrifies you so you don't want it for yourself. You want to be with someone powerful, to be near them and serve them and please them."

"That's ridiculous!"

"No its not. Celestia knew about the feelings you had for her. She knew you had a little crush on her. She foolishly assumed you'd grow out of it and that it was just a little youthful idol worship but I know better. That need has only grown stronger as you've matured and now that I am here that need is even more powerful, isn't it? The power I wield eclipses the power Celestia had by a thousand fold."

"Please stop." Twilight whimpered.

"Am I hitting a little too close to home my little princess? If I was wrong you'd be angry but instead you're feeling exposed because deep down you know that I'm right. Why don't you just admit it!?"

"Alright, I admit it! You're probably right, just please stop." Twilight said as tears began to streak down her face.

Zale laughed loudly and for several moments as Twilight fell flat onto the palace floor, her weeping more audible then before. Once Zale finally finished laughing, he let a loud sigh of relief before speaking again.

"Be in my chambers tonight, one hour after sunset. I'll give you what you so desire."

"You will?" Twilight asked, her words choked out between tears of ridicule.

"Yes, but there will be a cost." Zale announced coldly.

"Whatever it is, I'll do it." Twilight replied, wiping away her tears.


	2. Advice of friends

"Oh great Celestia, Twilight I am so happy for you! I can't believe how lucky you are getting to spend private, personal time with royalty!" Rarity exclaimed after Twilight informed her friends what had happened to her earlier in the day. For the sake of her reputation the version she told didn't include her pouting, crying, pleading nor did it include any of Zale's harsher remarks.

"I don't know sugar," Applejack interjected, "That King Zale doesn't exactly seem like the nicest critter to me. And I don't mean to sound rude but you don't exactly have a lot of experience with colts and gentleponies…"

"Doesn't have a lot of experience? Try none!" Rainbow Dash interrupted before realizing how rude what she said sounded, "I'm sorry, that was mean but I'm pretty sure I'm right."

"Like I was saying…. You don't have a lot of experience with colts. Are you sure you're not jumping in a little over your head on this one?" Applejack continued.

"Applejack, how can you imply such things?" Rarity retorted, "King Zale may have a few different customs and look a bit different and rule Equestria a bit different then we're used to but I'm sure that's only because he is a human but in the end he is still royalty and royalty always behaves with grace and dignity!"

"But I thought you said you date with Prince Blueblood was a disaster because he was a clod?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I'm fairly certain I didn't use the word clod and besides, he's the exception that proves the rule." Rarity explained.

"That phrase never made any sense to me." Rainbow Dash questioned, "If there's an exception wouldn't that disprove the rule?"

"It just an expression Rainbow Dash, I don't think you're supposed to take it literally." Applejack explained.

"Exceptions, rules, who cares? I think it sounds like the king wants to have a fun! Can you imagine how fun a party with the king would be?" Pinkie suggested.

"I don't know, I think he might be scarier then he looks and he looks pretty scary." Fluttershy meekly blurted out.

"Oh you think everything is scary!" Rainbow Dash playfully teased her friend, "You probably think oranges are scary."

"Well, if they fall and burst open all the juice inside could spray out and hit you in the eye!"

"Seriously? When has that every happened to anypony anywhere?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, ok maybe that might not have happened but he's still scary. Some of my animal friends that the king hired me to look after have gone missing and the ones that are there say that the missing ones disappear during the night." Fluttershy explained.

"Wait, Fluttershy, why would some of your animals disappearing make the king a scary a person? I mean, he hired you to look after the animals so why would he have anything to do with them going missing?" Twilight asked, confused by Fluttershy's story.

"I'm sure you'll find them soon, I mean, they probably just got lost during the night." Applejack suggested, trying to comfort her friend.

"I guess you could be right, but I just don't know. I always inform him right away in the morning when I find out that one of our animal friends has gone missing but each and every time he's always too busy eating his weird breakfast to help me look for them."

"I think I know what breakfast you're talking about; he calls it meat. I have no idea what it is but it really smells good. He let me try some of it once and it tasted amazing! I'm not really sure what it is though. I never found any books that mention a meat tree or a meat flower or even a land called meat." Twilight confirmed, "But just because he eats special food once and a while doesn't mean he's scary."

"I guess you're right about that Twilight, but he still just scares me a little. I mean, he keeps horns on his chair!"

"I agree with Fluttershy on that on; those Alicorn horns scare the britches off me every time I think about them." Applejack piped in.

"Yes, they are rather unfashionable." Rarity added.

"Guys, we're getting off topic!" Twilight interjected nervously, "I have to leave now if I'm going to be on time and I was hoping for some encouragement. This is a big deal for me and I'm a little nervous."

"If you want I'll walk with you to keep you company… only if you want me to… I wouldn't want to intrude if you didn't." Fluttershy offered.

"Actually, that would be really nice Fluttershy." Twilight said with a smile.

"And the rest of us will be wishing you luck and we'll be waiting to hear from you tomorrow." Applejack announced, followed by the other three nodding in agreement.


	3. Transformation

"I really do appreciate you coming with me Fluttershy," Twilight said softly as the pair reached the imposing double doors that lead to the King's private chambers, "It's made me feel a lot better."

"Oh, you're welcome Twilight! I'm always happy to help!" Fluttershy said with a smile, "But I guess this is where we part ways. I have to go check on the animals and make sure none of them go missing."

"If I get the chance I'll try to talk to King Zale about the missing animals. I'm sure if I approach him right he'll be happy to help." Twilight offered.

"That would be wonderful!"

Twilight watched as Fluttershy began to walk away and part of her wanted nothing more then to go with Fluttershy, or anypony for that matter, as long as it meant getting away from the King's Chambers.

"This is what I wanted." Twilight mumbled to herself as she used both front hooves to push open the doors, "This is what I begged for so I have to fooooo…"

Overcome with sudden, overpowering pain, Twilight dropped to her knees only a few feet past the main opening.

"Oh Celestia!" Twilight cried out in agony before the pain became so much that she could no longer speak but only express herself in moans and howls.

"Twilight, what's wrong!" Fluttershy yelled from down the hall, the sound of frantic hooves echoing closer and closer. Less then 30 seconds later Fluttershy skidded to a stop next to her friend.

"What's the ma….." Fluttershy began to ask before feeling the same agonizing pain as Twilight wash over her body, causing her to fall to the ground with a heavy thud before joining her friend in moans and tears.

Neither pony was able to focus on anything around them, only able to feel their bodies twitch and wiggle in strange ways.

"You didn't mention the spell was going to be this painful." King Zale asked calmly, watching the proceedings from a reclined position on his bed on the other side of the room.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has never had the opportunity to try such a powerful spell as this before. She had no way of knowing if it would hurt." Trixie replied, more apologetic then she would normally had been as she was unsure if her new king was actually angry or not regarding the circumstances.

"I suppose you haven't." Zale replied calmly, "You unicorns just don't have the level of magic needed for such a powerful spell and I suspect no Alicorn had ever been willing to loan her horn to the procedure."

Just beyond the opening of the door, Trixie had arranged the four Alicorn horns she had acquired from Zale into a square, each horn acting as a corner. As soon as Twilight had entered into the square she had begun casting the spell Zale had arranged for her to perform, her impressive but limited power flowing out from her horn and being amplified by the other four. Neither Zale nor Trixie had expected Fluttershy to barge into the room, though it was far too late to stop.

"It's done!" Trixie announced weakly several moments later, the magic aura around her horn fading at the same moment her legs gave out, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"You've done a good job unicorn," Zale said callously, "But if you expect me to pay you then you'd better hope you were successful."

Several minutes of silence passed in the royal chambers, Zale growing impatient as he waited for the two girls to awaken. He grinned slightly when Twilight began to stir.

"Oh, what happened to me?" Twilight whimpered as she tried to pick herself up off the ground but finding the whole process awkward, "I can barely stand. My hooves feel like they're twisted and…"

Twilight stopped talking as she stared down at her hooves.

"Oh, I feel so weird." Fluttershy moaned as she too began to awaken, "Twilight, what happened to us. Last thing I remember was hearing you scream and then… pain."

Twilight didn't answer her friend, not even sure what to tell her.

"I will apologize Fluttershy, I had not intended for you to be here. You simply stumbled in on something I had intended for you friend Twilight Sparkle and now you both share the same outcome." Zale explained.

"What happened to my hooves?" Twilight finally managed to ask, raising her eyes up to look at Zale who had now stood up from his bed and was approaching the girls.

"They're not hooves anymore you silly girl," Zale explained, "They're hands. Just like mine. We'll not exactly like mine. Yours are smaller but that's normal for females."

"You gave me hands? Why?" Twilight asked, not grasping what had actually happened.

"I didn't give you hands you silly girl, I transformed you!"

"Transformed me into what?"

"I transformed you into a human. I must say you turned out rather attractive, in a geeky schoolgirl kind of way."

"Why did you do this to me?"

"I really thought you were brighter then this Twilight. I had hoped I wouldn't have to explain myself but I guess I must. It's quite simple actually. You were the one who pleaded with me for the opportunity to join me in my bed so many times lately and I finally decided that I should take you up on the offer. After all, I have needs just like everyone else and there was no shame in satisfying those needs but all I had around me was a kingdom of ponies."

"I would have let you have your way with me in my pony form, you didn't have to change me."

"Ah, I know you would have let me but I simply had very little desire to spend the rest of my days forced to be intimate with a pony. You make fine subject, many of you make good servants, a select few of you even make admirable assistants but when it comes to desires I need a human."

"So there was no other way? We couldn't have found a compromise of some sort?" Twilight asked angrily.

Zale was surprised how quickly Twilight Sparkle was adjusting. Any other pony would have needed a fairly lengthy amount of "calming down" time in the royal dungeon but Twilight's ingrained obsession with pleasing her superiors was already turning against her. He had read about this trait in Celestia's royal diary but he had believed it embellished when he first read it but now he was beginning to believe Celestia may have been too conservative in her assessments of Twilight.

"Oh Twilight, you must believe me when I tell you that I only arranged for this transformation as a last resort after exhausting all other possibilities." Zale lied to his apprentice, having in reality skipped over any option that didn't fit his desires completely.

"I believe you," Twilight said, trying to force herself to believe Zale's story, "It's just a big shock. I guess I should really just get over it though so we can get down to business before my transformation wears off. How long do we have anyway?"

"Ha ha ha! The great and powerful Trixie laughs at the ignorance of the foolish Twilight Snarkle!" Trixie managed to say despite being so greatly weakened. Despite leaving Ponyville on a positive after her second visit, the string of her first encounter with Twilight and it's aftermath still sat in Trixie's mind.

"Oh, I don't think you understand yet my loyal student," Zale explained, taking care to include the phrase loyal student to help prepare Twilight for what he had to tell her, "I have no reason to believe this spell will wear off."

"You mean I'm stuck like this forever?" Twilight shouted.

"Don't think of it like that! I've given you a gift and in fact I'm starting to feel a little insulted at how you, my student, are reacting to this. I expected a little more grace and foresight." Zale retorted, trying to turn the situation against Twilight, "I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps I was too quick when I appointed you as a royal princess. Maybe Celestia was right when she decided to slow down your progress."

"I'm sorry my King," Twilight began to apologize, Zale's words striking nearly all of her secret fears at once, "I was overcome with shock and the whole experience has exhausted me. Perhaps after a little sleep I'll be better able to appreciate what you've done for me."

Zale couldn't believe how easily Twilight had folded. She cared so much for his approval that she actually was apologizing to him. If it weren't for the fact it would ruin the moment Zale would have allowed himself to laugh out loud.

"If you'll excuse me my Liege, I'll be returning to me chambers now to get some rest." Twilight said meekly, her eyes turned down towards the floor.

Zale found it hard to contain his laughter as he watched Twilight try to leave his room, completely unaware of how human locomotion worked. Instead of walking (or crawling) she tried to raise herself up on both her hands and feet as if she were still a quadruped. After several failed attempts to gain traction and turn about, all of which resulted in Twilight falling prone upon the floor, Zale decided to step in.

"You are in no shape to leave as you aren't even in a mental condition yet to figure out how to walk." Zale said as he walked over to Twilight and picked her up by her shoulders, "You and your friend will both stay with me tonight and in the morning I'll give you both lessons in how to walk on your new two feet."

Possessing a good amount of strength, Zale easily picked Twilight up into his arms and carried her over into his bed, placing her on one side before heading over and preparing to do the same for Fluttershy.

"Oh, that's okay Sir, you don't have to worry about me. I don't want to be a bother. I'll just sleep here… if you don't mind… otherwise I can try to leave and sleep in the hallway or…" Fluttershy explained, getting softer with each phrase.

"It's no bother." Zale explained with a smile as he reached down and picked Fluttershy up into his arms, "You only got yourself into this by showing concern for your friend and it would be terrible of me to allow your act of kindness to be repaid with a night on the floor."

Zale, having not paid any real attention to Fluttershy until heading over to pick her up, was quite surprised to find her new body so much curvier and more developed then Twilight's. It was also at that moment that he realized both girls were actually wearing clothes despite not wearing any when they entered the room as ponies.

Placing Fluttershy on the other side of his bed, King Zale crawled up through the middle of the bed and situated himself between his two guests.

"Now let us all go to sleep now, as you both have much to learn tomorrow." Zale said quietly as he leaned over and kissed Fluttershy on the forehead, the look on her face being one of uncertainty as he approached and then changing to happiness as she felt his gentle, unassuming kiss. Leaning over towards her afterward, Twilight mentally prepared herself for the same treatment but was taken completely by surprise when instead Zale locked his lips around hers and kissed her, deep and passionately.

"Good night my loyal apprentice." Zale whispered as he laid back and closed his eyes.

"Oh my," Twilight thought to herself as she felt a wonderful tingling pass through her body, "My first kiss was so much better then any of the books suggested!"


End file.
